Penn's Austin Bossart Making Strides In Phillies' Organization

PHILADELPHIA (CBS) -- Austin Bossart's first calendar year as a pro baseball player has been a good one.

The catcher who starred at the University of Pennsylvania was selected in the 14th round of the draft by the Phillies in June of 2015. He got his first taste of pro ball last summer with the short season Class-A Williamsport Crosscutters. He started the 2016 season with Low-A Lakewood, but was recently promoted to High-A Clearwater.

"It's been a great year so far," Bossart tells KYW Newsradio. "Different experience for sure, coming from college. But, first full season, it's been a great ride so far and I just hope to keep moving up."

Listen to the entire interview with Penn product Austin Bossart:

Bossart is hitting .246 this season between Lakewood and Clearwater, with a home run, nine runs batted in and 19 runs scored between the two stops. He talks about what's the biggest thing he notices as he moves up from level to level.

"Biggest thing for me is the pitching, honestly," Bossart says. "It's something that keeps improving as the levels go up. So it's something you've got to get used to at every level. And I hope to get used to this level and keep on doing well."

While Bossart's time in Clearwater has been brief (played in five games), he has already been a part of history with the Threshers. He was behind the plate for Clearwater's no-hitter on July 10th. Three pitchers (Drew Anderson, Will Morris, and Victor Arano) combined to stymie the St. Lucie Mets.

"That was amazing," Bossart says. "That was one of the coolest things I've been able to do as a baseball player throughout my life. We had three great pitchers going that night that all had everything working for them. So it was a lot of fun to call and it was a great experience for me."

While Bossart is focusing on his pro career now, he hasn't forgotten about his alma mater.

"I keep in contact with a lot of my old (Penn) teammates and the coaches, of course," Bossart says. "They're all rooting me on and it's really, really great to hear from them all of the time. I know they had a pretty good season last year at Penn, some great rising stars that I didn't get to play with unfortunately. But the future looks bright at Penn."